Former Indian Hills student-athlete Jake Stalzer was hired in October 2016 to lead the newest athletic program at IHCC -- sports shooting. Stalzer, an Albia native who was an all-region baseball player at Indian Hills, is the first coach for the fledgling sport. The IHCC team competed in a handful of meets in the spring of 2017 and will take part in its first official season during the 2017-18 academic year.

"There are at least a half-dozen community colleges in Iowa with sports shooting programs already in place," Stalzer explained. "The sport can also be found at a number of area high schools," he added.

The new Indian Hills coach, an avid outdoorsman, earned his associate of arts degree at IHCC before going to Elon University in North Carolina, where he played baseball and obtained a bachelor's degree.

Stalzer said he believes sports shooting is appealing because it's fun, and is a sport that offers many life lessons such as safety, discipline, patience, mental focus and teamwork. "I like the fact that this sport gives high school students, who might not have thought it was possible, a chance to become college student-athletes."